


Drukkna

by composersboy



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Destiny Islands, I guess you shouldn't read if you're afraid of drowning, M/M, Parallels, pre KHI, some post KHII, the world that never was
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 16:11:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3256211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/composersboy/pseuds/composersboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It wasn't a kiss!" Riku suddenly snapped. He had finished tying down the boat and was storming passed them, his body language bristling at their words. His head swung back at the brunet to shoot him an irritated glare. It was a look that made Sora immediately flinch away in guilt. "If I had stopped breathing you would have done the same for me, wouldn't you?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drukkna

**Author's Note:**

> Idea inspired by the doujin Memories by RAS.
> 
> Title "drukkna" is a word related to Old Norse; meaning "to be drowned".

The sun was at the highest point in the sky, its rays beating down to heat the sand and the gentle breeze. Destiny Islands was mostly filled with days like today, even if it weren't the middle of summer vacation for Sora and his friends. Although, the teenagers didn't seem to appreciate it any less as they took their little boats across from the mainland to the much smaller island. They'd been coming here to play ever since they were small children, their interest in it never diminishing for a second. Every plant, every cove, as well as the makeshift tree-houses and shacks was precious to them. It was always a place for them to relax without the eyes of the adults weighing on their shoulders. For those reasons, the island was even more special to a certain brown-haired boy and the friend he'd grown up with. He and Riku were the first of the group of six to come here, when Sora's father first brought them over. It was just the two of them who explored its every inch, who fished for different creatures, raced each other, and even crossed wooden swords. Once they had found Kairi there, they quickly became a trio. All their games stayed the same, the young girl watching from the sidelines at often times. She was the best referee they could have asked for. Not once had the Mayor's adopted daughter cheated or left behind a trusty whistle for such occasions.

On this particular day, the boys were about to race each other on the new 'obstacle course' they had mapped out. After so many years of running a straight line from the dock to the underside of the bridge that led to the paopu tree, the teenagers were excited for something new. Sora, especially, was bouncing in place as Kairi lay down the guidelines for their competition.

"And remember, if you don't touch the star on top of the tree, your win won't count!" She gave both of them a hard stare as she said it, before her cheery smile lit up her face once more.

"We got it," Riku waved one of his hands as if he were brushing off his concern for the rules he'd helped invent himself. "So what do you say, Sora? You wanna turn this one into a bet?"

His long time friend was cocky, always coming up with some sort of bet to make the competition more interesting between them. Riku was a year older than him, so his body did develop long before his own. It played a big part in Sora hardly ever being able to beat the boy at anything. As much as Sora was dedicated to working hard, he just never seemed to be catching up to his friend. He frequently felt like he was walking in the other's shadow as he struggled to become the cool, successful, muscular person all the girls appeared to adore. Selphie's crush was more than obvious, and Kairi... well, at least Sora's determination never ceased. He knew that one day he was going to catch up to Riku, and the girl who's red hair fanned her cheeks would look up to him, too.

Sora was still visibly jittering as he balled up his hands into eager fists."You can count on it!"

"All right, then. Let's say whoever loses... has to hang off the back of the boat when we row back to the mainland."

"What?" Sora's nose crinkled and his head tilted in disbelief. They almost never failed to go back home after the sun had already started to set, which left plenty of time for the afternoon chill to settle in. The idea of both coming home after dark as well as being soaked to the bone was not the least bit pleasing to him. "The water will be cold by then!"

"Sounds to me like you're afraid you're going to lose." Riku put his hands to his hips before leaning closer to the younger boy teasingly. He had always been like this, ever since the day that Sora had met him. They were the closest of friends, that was true, but that also made him the center point of all of Riku's jokes.

His brows were already pulling together before the other's sentence had fully left his mouth: "No, I'm not! You're not going to be smiling when you have to swim off the back of the boat."

Kairi giggled behind one of her hands. "Then go on and race already! I'll give the countdown, as usual."

Not another word was exchanged between the boys as they bent their knees a little, eyes staring ahead as they waited for the signal to take off running. Kairi wasted no time blowing into the whistle, and just like that their feet were hitting the broken bridge ahead. Sora tried to ignore the pounding in his chest as he jumped over the gaps, still side by side with his companion. It didn't occur to him that the zip line would have taken him a lot farther ahead of Riku after he had already passed it, and he gritted his teeth in annoyance for not thinking of it sooner. His friend had always been a faster runner, with his legs a bit more muscular and just a little longer than his own. At this rate, he wasn't sure if he was going to have another chance to take the lead. Unless...

The idea came to him as he was slapping his hand onto the giant, yellow star they had leaned up against the midpoint of their obstacle. He turned directly towards the tree tops to see that Riku had thought of the same thing, and was already jumping from the first to the second. His footwork moved skillfully, like he had already practiced this before. Suppressing a groan, Sora followed suit. Even if his chances of winning were growing shorter as each second passed, he wasn't about to give up. The only way he was ever going to match the older boy's prowess was by staying positive and working hard. Besides, there's no way Riku could predict him using the zip line the next time they challenged each other to this course.

"Looks like you're coming in last!" Riku called over his shoulder as he jumped over the gaps that lay between the unkempt bridge.

Sora gave a little snort and opened his mouth to retort, when he stepped after Riku and a sudden creaking, snapping sound forced a wave of panic in his throat, blocking any sound from escaping past his lips. The wood beneath his soles fell away, and he was left standing on air. He didn't get a chance to cry out as he fell nearly eight feet to crash into the water below. Even with flailing limbs slowing the impact, the momentum still had him seeing stars. Bubbles caressed his skin before dancing towards the surface, his eyes watching them flicker in-and-out of focus before they disappeared. The sun was still shining down on the ocean, making it sparkle and ripple above him, just outside of his reach. It was then that he began to realize he'd been inhaling the water. His lungs were shrieking for air that he was unable to reach. Sora wanted to struggle and swim back to the top, to take a breath that he never dreamed he would miss so badly in his lifetime. It wouldn't be too far of a climb because he fell into a shallow area of the water, and yet he couldn't do it. His body hurt from slapping the water at such an odd angle, and he was sure his head hit the plank of wood that landed before him. He thought he saw a familiar hand reach through the water to grab hold of his jumpsuit, but the light was quickly fading from his eyes. His lids fell shut as the darkness creeped in from the corners of his sockets and a strange calmness fell over him as he let the water swallow him whole. An image of Riku and Kairi flashed in his mind as he told himself that he was going to drown.

He didn't even get to say goodbye.

Sora. . .

Sora. . !

" _ **Sora**_!"

The fourteen-year-old tore open his eyes. Riku was the first person he saw, his friend dripping wet and hovering over him with a more disconcerted expression than Sora had ever had before. However, it wasn't this person's voice that had ripped into his unconsciousness. That was unmistakably Kairi, who he saw once he tilted his head to look around him. She looked worried as well, her hands clutched to her chest tight enough that her knuckles were white. He realized he was laying in the sand beside the zip line tower just as Riku sat back on his knees, comforted knowing that the brunet was fully functional.

Sora rolled to his side to cough up the water that was still lodged in his lungs. His stomach hurt from hacking, yet he was able to sit up completely without any assistance. The memory of the bridge breaking beneath him rushed back to him, his heart pounding at the thought that he almost died.

"Are you all right?" Kairi kneeled beside him as well, putting a hand on his back to rub it softly.

He gave her a nod. "Sure I am. Takes a lot more than that to get rid of me."

His voice was usually higher in pitch from lacking in puberty, only now it was croaky. It sounded foreign.

She seemed to feel better by the humor in his words anyhow, and Kairi chuckled, "Good."

"We should head back to the mainland now," Riku put in. There was something in his sea-foam colored eyes that Sora soon found himself trying to distinguish. A shadow seemed to linger in the depths, a ghost that connected the feelings reflecting there to his heart. He could tell that the boy was holding something back; he just wasn't sure what that something could be. The tallest of the three got to his feet before the other could so much as ask what was wrong. "I think we've had enough scares for one day."

He wanted to argue that he was feeling fine, but Kairi was quick to agree and he figured he'd upset the two of them enough without hanging around for another accident to happen. Once he got on his own feet, he realized the back of his head was throbbing. His limbs still felt like they were being weighed down by a few gallons of water, and the idea of hanging around the smaller island any longer was exhausting. The conversation between them stayed light as they climbed into the same boat, the boys each picking up an ore to row them back home. Sora's incident wasn't brought up again until they were back on land and Riku was tying up the boat to the little dock.

Kairi had walked a few steps ahead of them, so she twirled back with a smug grin on her face. A small indent was left behind by her heel as she did so. "It's a good thing you woke up when you did, Sora. Riku was about to give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

He was sure his face was scarlet by the way he cheeks were burning up. Ignoring the weird butterfly sensation engulfing his stomach, he started to wave his arms at her in desperate denial. "What!? No! There's no way Riku would do that."

"Yes, he would! His lips were almost touching yours before you regained consciousness."

"He wouldn't ever kiss a _guy_!"

"It wasn't a kiss!" Riku suddenly snapped. He had finished tying down the boat and was storming passed them, his body language bristling at their words. His head swung back at the brunet to shoot him an irritated glare. It was a look that made Sora immediately flinch away in guilt. "If I had stopped breathing, you would have done the same for me, wouldn't you?"

Their gazes met each other and held for an undetermined amount of time. Sora breathed deeply, trying to suppress the strange flittering that still ate away at his insides. He let the silence fill the void as he simply stared at the teenager's expression. It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't responded to Riku at all, because the look on his own face had given him an answer that even Kairi would be able to identify.

"Of course I would."

* * *

 

"Riku?"

Sora held the unconscious teen in his lap with Riku's head nestled into the crook of his arm. He tried not to rustle the other too much as he shifted his feet ungracefully beneath him. The Keyblade wielder tried to hold his friend as still as possible as he tucked his knees beneath himself more comfortably. Riku's eyes were closed, hidden behind thick pieces of silver hair that had grown more than twice its length from before they left their island home. If it were any other circumstance, the boy would look like he was merely sleeping. Taking a nap would surely be a better alternative to this. The two of them had just taken out the Organization XIII's leader, Xemnas, as well as eradicated the ungodly amount of Dusks that appeared in his wake. Now they were entirely alone, and after Riku had collapsed in an injured, exhausted heap, Sora was afraid.

As far as he could tell, the only real damage had been on Riku's side after Xemnas hit him with one of his red sabers. It had happened when he jumped in front of the much shorter boy to protect him, and Sora had checked the injury as soon as he was given the chance. He had even put a cure spell on him. What reason could there be for him not to wake up?

With a gentle hand, he sifted his fingers through Riku's fringe to brush it away from his face. _Why won't you open your eyes?_

A startling realization hit him like he'd being shot by an icy dagger to the chest. The other wielder was unconscious, he wasn't moving, he wasn't even breathing.

His body began to tremble as he moved around again, this time settling Riku flat on the strange, translucent floor. A lesson in a past health class had taught him how to handle a situation like this, and he followed the instructions to lean the boy's head back. Even though he was confident he knew how to perform CPR on a person, it did almost nothing to stifle the fear that still had a hold of him. "It's going to be all right. I'm not going to let you die here."

If Riku really did lose his life here, it would be his own fault. He would have failed to protect one of the most important people to him, and the sadness would consume him in a way that his near death experience with drowning would never live up to. This boy had been close to him ever since they were very small, almost their entire lives, which left the idea of having to go throughout the rest of his days without Riku unimaginable. He could think of no greater physical pain. Even the loss he felt in Radiant Garden when he believed Goofy had died at the hands of falling stone didn't match up to what Sora would be feeling now. Forgiveness was something he gave out to the most undeserving person; however, he would never be able to disregard the blame of having a friend sacrificing themself for him.

"You're going to be okay." His voice grew softer with each word. He moved Riku's hair out of his face once more before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Sora leaned in close to the other, sufficiently enough that he could feel the warmth of body heat between their lips when a hand suddenly reached out and held on to his chest. The pressure was only so strong as to hold Sora in place rather than push him back. His eyes snapped open with surprise, and he let out a gasp as he saw that Riku's own were gazing at him through tired slits.

"Did you even... check for... a pulse?" Riku breathed, cracking just the smallest of smiles.

"You're okay. You're okay! Riku!" Sora's relief came out as airy laughter. He shoved away the hand that held them apart so he could hug his friend tightly around the neck. Tears were beginning to sting his eyes as he squeezed the other, though he continued to shake with giggles.

"Of course I am!" Riku struggled to sit up, also starting to laugh along with Sora, and put a single arm around the other's shoulders in a reassuring embrace. "You think I'm going to leave you all alone in this place? Everything's okay."

And even though the two of them were trapped in a world between light and dark, the vast emptiness stretching out before them never-ending, Sora believed it. The Realm of Light was safe from Ansem, Xehanort, or any other person's name he went by. Kairi and others wouldn't have to worry about the Heartless anymore. He and Riku at least had each other. Everything was okay.


End file.
